Bakemono Nissan S15 - Build Thread!

[BakemonoRicer]

Cheers. Size is 17 x 9 (+22) - which is pretty damn aggressive for an S15. No doubt will require some guardwork and a race alignment to clear the guards.

Was planning to get them wrapped in 235/40/17 rubber, but after calling around tyre shops there's no AD08R's or R888's in the country and no one could give me an ETA.

Seeing as Streeter is back on the 5th I might as well just do an order direct from Japan via DHL Express.

[PN-Mad]

There are heaps more tyre options, if you wanted the R888, then it's generally accepted that the nitto tyres are the same compund, as in NT01. But r888/NT01 are a proper semis, that won't be great on the road, not because of the grip, but your heat cycling will effect the tyre.

Why don't you contact Boz and get a deal on some hankook RS3s. They are the equilivent of AD08s, but better. 245/40 or 235/45.

[BakemonoRicer]

Installed a brand new BNR34 Vspec II Nur pedal setup. Makes heel & toe downshifting super easy.

The brake and clutch pad should be heated up before even attempting to fit them - I used some hot water followed by a hair dryer. It'll still take a bit of time & patience to get them on.

For the accelerator, I removed the existing assembly and replaced it with a 200SX GT accelerator arm & the NUR pedal pad. When removing the existing arm, you'll need to push a plastic bush out near the cable linkage which is easy enough - just make sure you push on the end closest to the firewall.

Here is a pic of the new setup.

[BakemonoRicer]

So this is happening:

Been noticing a fair bit of movement from the rear end - it's an old car so obviously there's quite a bit of wear & tear with the bushes etc. Now beefing up the rear end which should take a lot of lash out the drivetrain, though I've avoided solid subframe bushes after spending hours looking into the topic.

The rear knuckles were also looking a bit tired.... I have a spare set laying around which have bugger all use so it's likely those will get swapped in.

Anyway, got all the parts sorted and enlisted my trusty mechanic to do the work.

-Yanack Racing Solid Diff Bushes

-Nismo Subframe Bushes

-Ikeya Formula Rear Knuckle Solid Bushes

-Nismo Rear Lower Control Arms

-350Z Rear Hub seals (interchangeable with the S15 item and a far superior design).

After the rear end gets done, the car will end up back in the garage while I save some coin for the front end.

Bonus Pic:

Nismo LCA's

[XKLABA]

Nice going, looking foward to a ride in this at the next trackday, i still owe you a ride from the last one

What tyres did you get, please say AD08s cause they are way better allround then RS-3s and i have both so i know forsure and will be replacing them with AD08s

[BakemonoRicer]

Done deal Mick

Yeah phew....went with the AD08R's in 235/40/17

[34GeeTeeTee]

Done deal Mick

Yeah phew....went with the AD08R's in 235/40/17

You should have just run space savers with that size tyre man!

[BakemonoRicer]

Got the car back in action for now, turns out I had two broken subframe mounts.

All the gear for the rear end is now fitted and the car feels fantastic.

Slight increase in noise with the solid diff bushes - but no issue as I don't mind the sound.



Teed up Nelson to roll the rear guards as it was scrub city with the new rims. No issues with the fronts so they stayed factory spec. Really wouldn't mind seeing if I could make Z-Tune lip arches work with the rear guards...



Been getting out & about as much as possible to enjoy the car, as usually it doesn't take long for it to end up sitting in the garage for months haha.

[fatz]

Who did your cradle bushes and how much

[BakemonoRicer]

The car really is starting to look drastically different to when I first bought it.

The other weekend, resprayed the bootlid hinges and fitted up the Sunline Racing Carbon Bootlid - the thing is insanely light so I had to remove one of the tensioners for the boot release. .

Decided I'd do a shakedown with the new mods - so I took the car to Wakefield for the NSCC trackday on the 30th. I stayed the night before with a bunch of mates and then went out to have a crack at setting a decent time.
In terms of pace, I ended up two seconds slower than a Lotus Elise.

The car was on rails in the first session (untimed) and I was very confident in the car. For the second session, I made the mistake of dropping the tyre pressure from 36psi to 33psi. The car did not handle near as well as it just didn't seem to want to turn in and was a lot more savage at the limit. This didn't stop me from pushing it flat out and I netted a 1.15.09.....and soon after spun out (twice). Once at the fish hook when my drivers rear dropped off the track, and once when I mashed the throttle too early at the fish hook after having just came off the brakes. Got a little graze on the lip of the TE37SL from that one.

During the second session - I started noticing some pretty severe shudder through the steering wheel as I was braking. I did notice the rotors were blue when I came off the track so I assume the DBA 4000's must have overheated & warped. With each session, the shudder got worse, particularly as the brakes got hotter. I was pushing harder & harder yet my times didn't get quicker with the closest being a 1.16. I guess not everything goes smoothly every time you go to a track day lol.

My mate is organising to send me some GoPro footage of the 1.16 lap, so I'll keep everyone posted.

[timmy_89]

Good progress with the car man, if I had have realised you were there I would have said hi (was there in my R34 GTT). Sounds like the brakes are definitely due for replacement. Will you just replace the rotors or do you think you will go for an upgrade?

[GH05T]

love a good 15

[hortz]

nice car man. any recent updates?

[Hadouken]

He's selling and buying a 33

[BakemonoRicer]

Off work until the 4th, so I've taken the opportunity to get cracking on the GT car....

I started off completely flushing the cooling system with distilled water. All the coolant/discharge was very clean with no contamination...

When I started removing the radiator, it was missing the air guides so I suspect it's been replaced at some point in the past. It was actually in pretty good condition aside from being caked with leaves etc.

I got to have a closer look at the front-end and it's original, pretty damn rare for an S15.

Next up for install is the HKS drive belts and for the cooling system upgrade... I've got a Sunline Racing Radiator Breather Tank, SARD radiator hoses, and I'm tossing up whether to throw on the ARC radiator (36mm thick) or the SARD radiator (49mm thick). Thoughts?

[BakemonoRicer]

I took off the Tomei Oil Pan and reinstalled it to get a better seal. It helped having the Nismo mounts as there's decent clearance between the crossmember & flange now.

New valve cover gasket needed...

The control arms were looking fairly tired, removed the split pin then a couple whacks to the knuckle with the lump hammer was enough to dislodge the ball joints. I've thrown on the new set of Nismo LCA's...will tighten them once I get everything else installed & I have full fluids in the car. Will prop the car up on some pavers when I do this.

Nismo Power Brace, nice bit of gear for the Silvia's.

Belts were in pretty bad condition with all of them showing cracks as per pic below. Had a mishap... I'd wound most of the crank bolt out to get ready to pull off the harmonic balancer, went away to get the tool to remove it, got started & midway thought hmm this is a bit tight...nek minnit broken harmonic balancer, Turns out the old man thought it'd be a good idea to wind half the crank bolt back into the engine. I rung around & couldn't source a replacement harmonic balancer anywhere in Australia (despite a few places advertising them as 'in stock') so I won't be able to get my hands on one till the new year. Will probably steer clear of an OEM item & go for a Ross Tuffbond Metal Jacket.

I've fitted up the ARC M073 crossflow intercooler, will obviously tinker with it a bit more to get it positioned really nice. The thing is a work of art & for a long time I was reluctant to even take it out of its packaging. It's discontinued now and I'm pretty sure I'm the only S15 guy in Australia who has one. Will get started on the pipework tomorrow.

Unlike a GTR there's a bit of body processing required to fit it up...so if you're afraid of using a grinder / holesaw - better off using a turnflow style kit or sticking with the side mount.

[XKLABA]

Looking good mate, getting serious now huh

Love the ARC stuff, I have the M109 on my 34

Do you like the AD08Rs ?

[BakemonoRicer]

The M109 is king, it's a shame they discontinued it for the 34!! As for the AD08R's, yes really like them...

Finally had some free time this weekend, & I decided the first thing I’d is work on the car and install the Nismo 740cc injectors. Spent 22 hours hours on the S15 over the weekend....was absolutely buggered by the end of it!

I started off at the inlet plenum disconnecting all the hoses, earths, connectors & throttle cable. After this was done, I unbolted the throttle body & inlet plenum in the workshop manual recommended sequence. Hoses were labelled & nuts/bolts were placed in labelled ziplock bags. I find this always makes it easier when putting things back together.

Here is a picture of the stock injectors prior to removal. I used fine grade oil around the perimeter of each to loosen them up, and then levered them out of the fuel rail (from the two small slots in the injector).

I cleaned the fuel tube very meticulously and laid out the injector caps/screws as per original. Even though I won’t be seeing the injectors, the red is a much nicer colour lol. I slipped the o-rings on & lightly lubricated them with engine oil, put them in the fuel tube, then torqued them down with the injector caps. I figured I’d replace the IACV gasket seeing as the plenum is off as well…

[BakemonoRicer]

The next step of the process was to remove the alternator. You’ll notice I’ve taken it out with the bracket that’s fixed to the engine block...because it's easier. The reason I’ve removed the alternator is so I could access the sandwich block – it’s torqued tight so I don’t recommend using a handheld allen key - I used a ratchet with a socketed allen key which worked nicely. It'll get replaced with a Tomei N2 Oil Block....

Kept at it & way past midnight I'd removed the front dump, exhaust manifold & stock turbo. Two of the nuts (No. 7 & 8 ) were damn near seized on the manifold….took a good half hour to crack them off.

[BakemonoRicer]

Whilst I don't have plans to forge the motor yet....I'm at the point where I realise I'll be going fairly nuts with the build, so I figure I'll 'do it once & do it right'.

I got to work on Sunday fitting up the massive Trust 16 row oil cooler & filter relocation kit.....I spent a lot of time tinkering around to get it mounted perfectly.

I really like how it sits behind the intercooler, I think its much safer than being in front of the drivers wheel and also much easier to route the lines & filter relocation.

Here is a picture of the kit laid out on the ground, its bloody good quality gear...

It's a good idea to fit up all the brackets to the core first before placing it in position and the horn cable needs to be nipped up with a ziptie.

For the relocation filter block, I lubricated all the o-rings with engine oil & then torqued them lightly (~15NM). I'm mindful its an alloy block so I'd rather not over-torque them...

I cleaned up some surface rust from the old washer bottle bracket & then hit the area with some VHT chassis black paint. I trimmed a small piece of the washer bottle & relocated it, then mounted the filter relocation block....looks very neat !! After that I'd unfortunately ran out of time...so I'll keep everyone posted as progress continues....